– Steve Hitchen
Fly'n for Fun 2024 has the GA community salivating as to what it could put up. With the weight of RAAus, AMDA Foundation and HARS behind it, the event could grow into a sparkling showcase for the general aviation community. Does that sound familiar? If so, it's probably because you've read something similar (without the references to RAAus et al) in previous editions of The Last Minute Hitch. I've said that about Ausfly, OzKosh and Fly'n for Fun before. Whereas all these events have shown hints of success in the past, they've all fallen short of writing their names in lights. At the risk of sticking my neck out further than I usually do, I have to say that Fly'n for Fun 2024 has an optimistic rather than apprehensive feel about it. The event is riding a wave of GA community anticipation that other fly-ins, by whatever name, have lacked. The generator behind that wave is simply belief; belief that the organising team has hit on a winning formula that will attract enough industry and general public interest to promote growth. Growth is the magic ingredient that has been missing for other events in the past. Getting AMDA and HARS involved has injected some confidence into the GA community that Fly'n for Fun is worth bothering with, which we should all hope translates into aeroplanes on tie-downs at Parkes next weekend. So, am I going to put my propeller where my mouth is? You bet. See you there.
The Federal Government's ADS-B for VFR rebate scheme was a very good idea that seems to be struggling to reach the potential it originally had. And it's not for lack of commitment or funding, it's for a lack of engineers to get the work done where panel-mounted avionics are preferred. There is no point reiterating the engineer-shortage saga that has been dragging on for several years; there is not a lot new to say about that. But now the department is feeling the pinch itself as the GA community just can't get the work done that it needs to make ADS-B in VFR aircraft substantial enough to reap the benefits. The department's own figures show that in the period 17 June 2022 to 25 February 2024, only $2.64 million–or about 17%–of the available cash has been paid out. Take into account that at the opening of the program, the plan was to fund $15 million in 12 months. Extrapolation shows that this rate of uptake will see the program finished some time in 2028. Look also at the grant numbers. For the same period, 1357 aircraft out of Australia's VFR fleet (GA and RAAus) have been fitted from 1516 applications. We can read two things into this: firstly, very few VFR aircraft owners have applied; and secondly, the total value of grants is low probably because the low-cost ECs are being fitted rather than the higher-priced panel-mounted units. This might be a case of necessity rather than preference. These are not good numbers given that the idea was to encourage as many owners to fit as possible in order to make VFR flights more visible to ATC. The ALP's conundrum is whether or not to extend the deadline again. If they do, but nothing changes with the industry's work capacity, we'll add another 10% to the money paid out and be talking about this all again in 12 months time. If they don't, then the program will fall well short of it's original intent and there may be a rush on ECs so aircraft owners can claim something whilst the cash is still on the table.
And so it begins. The delivery of a type-certified one-ton plus eVTOL to a customer in Japan marks the beginning of a new type of aviation that we all will have to get used to: advanced air mobility (AAM). If you're not up to speed, this means small-ish multi-rotor electric aircraft shuttling people around urban areas like Ubers of the sky, or heading out to pick up patients in medevac roles. Essentially, there are two types of eVTOLs: crewed and autonomous. The AutoFlight version that recently flew between two sprawling cities in southern China was autonomous. Australia's preparations for eVTOLs and AAM are well down the track, but there's still some work to do in educating the aviation community and general public about what this means. Then there is the commercial aspect; AAM will have to make money for the operators or these high-tech eVTOLs run the risk of becoming hangar queens. The problem is that there is little to no precedent to base business cases on, so helicopters are being used to model operations. However, eVTOLs bring benefits that helicopters can't match, such as quieter operations, sustainable power sources and lower per-seat costs. The good news is that with the Japanese planning demonstration ops next year, the world-wide aviation community will be watching to see if the projections add up to the reality, and if the numbers that drop out provide a better view of the future.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch